Around 350 players face missing two weeks of training while the damaged equipment at the newly-opened home of the Gartcairn Football Academy is repaired.

Floodlight parts were stolen just weeks after the official opening of the Gartcairn Football Academy's new home.

Thieves have caused £4000 of damage by stripping metal components from inside floodlight pylons at a busy Airdrie football facility.

Around 350 players, aged from just six right up to adult teams, now face missing two weeks of training while the damaged equipment at pitches – the newly-opened home of Gartcairn Football Academy – is repaired.

North Lanarkshire Leisure chairman Jim Logue, the Airdrie Central councillor, called the dangerous theft from among the eight floodlighting columns “absolutely disgraceful”, and appealed for anyone with information to contact police.

Gartcairn coaches and players were informed of the theft as they arrived for scheduled training last Friday, only to find that the lights at their dedicated centre, located between St Margaret’s High and Airdrie leisure centre, could not be operated.

Another pitch was found for the 2007 age-group team to use that evening – but since then, sessions for 20 boys’ and girls’ teams, plus 54 players in an over-35s’ league, have had to be cancelled.

The theft comes just three weeks after Gartcairn’s players officially moved into the upgraded facility, where they run three hours of training sessions, four nights per week, as well as playing matches there at weekends.

Club chairman Robert McCallum said: “We got a call on Friday saying that the floodlights had been damaged, so all our training has been cancelled until further notice, which could be two weeks out.

“The sports centre staff are really good and managed to make a pitch available for the players who were there at the time when this was discovered; but otherwise there are block bookings in place so there aren’t pitches available for all of our teams to use each day.

“It’s a really dangerous thing for these people to have done; and it won’t be cheap to fix as the components which have been taken are obviously very specific parts, so the estimated repair costs are thousands of pounds.

“We’d only really been in at the new base for two or three weeks and it’s been fantastic to have our own facility, so it’s frustrating that this has happened and that it affects 350 children and adults.”

Councillor Logue said: “This is an absolutely disgraceful act of theft from our superb new facility, which has proven really popular with hundreds of boys and girls enjoying coaching sessions each week.

“I’d urge anyone with information on who is responsible to contact the police.

“We’re doing all we can to repair the lighting so that it can be back up and running as soon as possible, and hope to have this done next week.”

Constable David Cumming, of the community safety department at Coatbridge police office, said: “Thefts like this are a major problem – this equipment is live and very dangerous; and they also have a cost to the community.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Coatbridge police office on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.